He hasn’t been seen much since he disappeared from American Idol last season, but rest assured, Mario Vasquez is okay and ready to release an album.

Vasquez, who was the early favourite to win the popular televised talent contest before he unexpectedly quit, is almost finished recording his debut album for J Records, the major record label that signed him last year.

He expects to be finished any day now, he told MTV.

He recently hit the studio with chart-topper Ne-Yo and has received production work from Scott Storch.

Vasquez also worked with Kerry “Krucial” Brothers, the man behind Alicia Keys’ work. Vasquez is hoping Krucial will bring Keys into the studio for a collaboration.

“Gallery,” his first single, will be released in both English and Spanish. The song, with no scheduled released date, features Baby Bash.

The album is expected this summer.

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Mario Vasquez has found a career for himself, a few months after leaving the American Idol competition where he was a favourite to win. But the mystery surrounding his departure still remains.

In March, after being named to the top 12 of the fourth season of the hit Fox show, Vasquez withdrew. In the days following, he appeared on all the major talk shows and entertainment gossip programs, refusing to divulge his reasons for leaving. The interviews were pointless, so it seemed.

There was a rumour that Sean Combs, then known as P. Diddy, and his Bad Boy label had signed a secret deal with Vasquez. Combs refused to speak about the rumours, leading people to believe that there was some truth there.

But some speculated that he quit because he was so confident he would win, and that he didn’t want to win the recording contract and just the million dollar prize.

Quitting may have been the best thing, and the extra publicity may have earned him even more money.

Vasquez signed what is believed to be a lucrative contract with Clive Davis’ J Records, the label announced late Thursday. His debut album is expected to be released in the spring of 2006.

Had Vasquez won the competition, Simon Fuller, who developed the Idol franchise, would have been entitled to a large percentage of his earnings. But Vasquez has cut off all ties with Fuller and Idol, meaning quitters sometimes do win.

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